No porn domain for now

An Internet governing body has postponed plans to consider whether to create a special domain for pornography.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was supposed to vote on the issue of an .xxx domain at an upcoming meeting in Vancouver. But officials said this week that they need time to review a 350-page report on the creation of the domain.

There have been reports that both the European Union and the United States are opposed to the plan, though for different reasons. U.S. pressure groups are uncomfortable with the sexual aspect, while European officials are upset with continuing U.S. control of the Internet.

Blog community response:

"In my opinion I think they should legalize .xxx domains. Not because I'm some crazy sex fiend but it would really weed out all the porn and smut on the internet. Not only would it help users find porn easier it would avoid many incidents where you *stumble* upon porn." --Enter the Rabbit Hole

"I don't agree with the cancellation. I know they wouldn't be able to force the porn sites to use .xxx but it would help to keep a lot of sites out of the reach of children." --Random Fix

"Rumors say there was some high-level intervention from an EU commissioner, but the safer bet would be on pressure from the US government, whose conservative allies aren't happy with the idea of a porn-only domain. If the latter is true, it's certain to raise more questions about US government control of the Internet, and ICANN in particular." --Techdirt